How to create your own website.

The next step in developing your website includes aiming all your content and design at your “Target Audience.”

By defining who will be visiting your website, you can better anticipate the information they will be expecting. In addition, you can craft other vital content and target specific groups.

Now is the time to list those you wish to reach. You can breakdown this list by these demographics (but not limited to):

• Gender
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Education
• Income
• Location
• Marital Status
• Household Size
• Focus Groups/Similar Interests
• Organizational Members and Potential Members

If you or your business/organization already participate on social media platforms, your current followers can present insight clues to who forms your target audience. Many social media platforms break down the user’s data and how they interact with your posts.

Use the social media platform metrics as a great starting point for defining your target audience. However, remember that this metric is not all-inclusive.

Taking a serious look at your competition gives you a glimpse of their business strategy and how it differs from yours. From this information, you can further define what makes your business/organization stand out. How are you different? What’s your particular niche?

Further inspection shows:

• Type – Are these direct or indirect competitors?
• Pricing – How is the pricing comparable to yours?
• Marketing – How do they advertise? Do they have a functioning website? What is their social media presence?

Now, you can complete this step of your DIY Website Design by listing your target audience. It may change as you finish designing your site. But by predicting your website visitors, you can better meet their needs and, more importantly, secure them as an essential part of your business/organization.

QUESTION #2 –

Who is your Target Audience?

Moving forward, determining your “MUST-HAVES” is next on the list. I am glad you are taking the necessary steps to design your website!